Higher-order riesz transforms and steerablewavelet frames

We introduce an Nth-order extension of the Riesz transform in d dimensions. We prove that this generalized transform has the following remarkable properties: shift-invariance, scale-invariance, inner-product preservation, and steerability. The pleasing consequence is that the transform maps any primary wavelet frame (or basis) of L₂(¿^d) into another ¿steerable¿ wavelet frame, while preserving the frame bounds. The concept provides a rigorous functional counterpart to Simoncelli´s steerable pyramid whose construction was entirely based on digital filter design. The proposed mechanism allows for the specification of wavelets with any order of steerability in any number of dimensions; it also yields a perfect reconstruction filterbank algorithm. We illustrate the method using a Mexican-hat-like polyharmonic spline wavelet transform as our primary frame.